The Man Who Got There First
by HarryPotterTNGfan
Summary: The Doctor is preoccupied with petty things, which are causing him to ignore Sarah-Jane. Will Sarah simply live with it, or will she realize that trying to get the Doctor to notice her might not be worth the hassle after all?


The Doctor stepped out of his TARDIS outside UNIT headquarters, a bag of his favorite candy in hand. He chewed idly as he wandered around the entrance - mindful of his dragging scarf - not quite ready to go back inside yet. A little while ago, he had managed to slip away from the party being held inside, which was to celebrate yet another victory against yet another alien foe, who had threatened to destroy the planet. The Doctor, who had done most of the people-saving involved, was naturally the center of attention at the event. All the praise and salutes had started to get on his nerves, so he left with the excuse that he wanted to double check that he had locked the TARDIS. It wasn't his best excuse, but everyone seemed to believe him. Well, except Sarah-Jane, who had given him a stern look before he left, but didn't say anything.

Ah, Sarah. She was the real hero in the Doctor's opinion. She was the one who had managed to rescue him from that war ship. If it wasn't for her, he'd probably still be there, locked up without any hope of escaping, and Earth would have been in grave peril.

But that wasn't the only time Sarah-Jane was the hero. She's always had his back. She was always there when he, the Doctor, needed her the most. From the Daleks to the Cybermen to today's adventure, she was always helping him to see the right way, and to do the right thing. She was good at that - for a human, anyway.

The Doctor thought back to the beginning of the party as he took a seat on a nearby bench, helping himself to an orange jelly baby.

* * *

"Long time no see," Sarah-Jane said, sitting next to the Doctor at a table in the UNIT hall, which was packed with many people.

"Hello," said the Doctor without looking up from his screwdriver.

Sarah-Jane frowned at it disapprovingly. "I wish you'd put that thing away. You've been sitting here this whole time. This is _your _party, you know! Why don't you come have a little fun for once?"

"I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with it," said the Doctor absently, talking about the screwdriver. "It doesn't seem to be working properly."

"That's probably because it was zapped by one of those santacs on the warship. But you can work on that later! Why don't you come dance...or something?"

"I don't much like dancing," said the Doctor, finally putting down his screwdriver to reach into his pocket. He pulled out a black square-shaped object that fit in his hand perfectly. "Look, I found this on the santac warship. I wonder what it is."

"I don't know, Doctor, and honestly, at the moment I don't really care. And neither should you! Now put that thing away so you can dance with me!" Sarah-Jane pulled the Doctor up from his chair, but before she could take him anywhere, a member of UNIT walked up to them and saluted the Doctor proudly. She was about the fiftieth person to do that within the last hour. The Doctor smiled politely, but once the woman had walked away, he sighed with a frown.

"Sarah, I think I'm going to go make sure we locked the TARDIS securely. I don't want some sranger to waltz in and see the inside. I think we'd have a heart attack on our hands then, wouldn't we?" He walked away without another word, leaving Sarah-Jane looking after him, obviously knowing he just wanted to get away from everyone. With a sigh much like the Doctor's, she walked over to the table where Harry Sullivan sat and rested her cheek on her hand.

"No luck, old girl?" asked Harry, looking down at her expression with sympathy.

"Not really, Harry," Sarah said. "He wouldn't even look at me. He was too preoccupied by that silly box he found on that ship."

"A box? What box?" asked Harry couriously.

"I don't know. I think he just wanted an excuse not to have any fun."

"Well, you know what the Doctor's like. Never off duty."

"Right, well, that doesn't help me."

"Cheer up, old girl. I'm sure he'll come around. Until then, do you want to dance with me instead?"

Sarah-Jane looked up at her friend and smiled. "Of course, Harry. I'd love to."

* * *

The Doctor sighed as he ate another jelly baby, and realized now that he hadn't been very friendly to Sarah-Jane back there. He had been too busy working on his stupid screwdriver. Not many people believed it, but the Doctor did pick up on things like that. Sure, it might be minutes or even hours afterward when he would finally figure it out, but he was always aware of his incompitence when it came to things like accepting an invitation to dance when your best friend, who clearly only wants to spend some time with you.

Knowing that he couldn't pretend to be checking the TARDIS lock for much longer, the Doctor stood up and pocketed the rest of his candy. Before walking inside, he spotted a row of roses planted in a garden near the bench he had been sitting on, and he picked one of them from the dirt. Trying to remember if he still knew how to dance, he walked inside UNIT and back into the hall, where the party was still going on in his absence. He searched the room for Sarah-Jane when he didn't find her still sitting at the table, and instead spotted her on the dance floor, appearing to be have a good time.

The Doctor was surprised to find that he was disappointed to see Sarah dancing with Harry instead of himself, and watched as as she placed her head on his chest, dancing to a slow song with him. "Right," he said shortly, realizing that he was too late. After setting the rose he picked on a table in front of him, he left the room for the last time that night, leaving Sarah-Jane Smith with the man who agreed to dance with her. The man who got there first.


End file.
